Digital cameras store photographic images as digital information. The amount of information in a digital image file ranges in size depending of several factors including, for example, quality, number of pixels in a frame, resolution, color or black and white imaging, and the type of compression used in the generating the file. As the pixel density in sensors become greater, storage requirements for digital photographs may increase.
Digital cameras store the digital photographs in memory chips. The memory chips may be encased in the camera housing and/or in removable memory cards which may be inserted into a receptacle in the camera housing. The memory cards may be PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) cards, or “PC cards” which conform to a particular standard, e.g., Type II or Type III PCMCIA.
The memory chip may be considered a digital film roll. The number and size of the memory chips available to the operator of a particular camera determine the number of digital photographs the operator can take and preserve in a given outing. The memory chips are relatively expensive and have relatively small capacity compared to traditional portable storage media for digital information, e.g., magnetic film and discs, and compact discs (CDs). This limits the capacity of the digital camera.